Chinese dairy products flooding into Vietnam, raising worries

VietNamNet Bridge – China sourced dairy products have once again raised worries among consumers after the Chinese Quality Inspection Directorate discovered the content of aflatoxin M1, a cancer causing substance, in the products of Mengniu was higher by 140 percent than the allowed level.

The noteworthy thing is that in 2011, the imports from China increase by 30 percent, while a lot of dairy products with unclear origins have still been available on the market.

Where available dairy products come from?

At the Kim Bien Market, the owners of some shops introduced kinds of dairy products with the prices between 50,000 dong and 70,000 dong per kilo. It seemed that the products with light yellow color are cheaper.

V, the owner of a shop, said: “the more expensive products have higher level of fat, and no need to add fat flavor.” When asked about the origin of the products, all the shop owners affirmed that these were the imports, but they show different sources of export countries. One said the products were imported from Australia, the other said from New Zealand and V said from the Netherlands.

At a house near the market, reporters could see with their eyes the milk powder put in 10-20 kilo packs, or in the cartons. On the packs, one could read the words written by hands that the product was from Australia, and the other from New Zealand. Meanwhile, there was no any label which could show the actual origin of the products.

T, a flavoring seller, explained that sellers cannot make fat profits with these products; therefore, they only provide certificates of origin when they meet the customers who need to buy products in big quantities, about hundreds of kilos.

At the formula shops on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street or Nguyen Thong area in district 3, these products are not displayed on the shelves, but customers still can buy the dairy products with no label if they ask the shops’ owners.

A customer asked the saleswoman on Nguyen Thong Street about where the milk came from and received a honest answer that she herself did not know about the origin of the products. She said she bought milk powder in big 20 kilo packs and then divided the powder into small packs for sale.

The saleswoman said that the milk tasted very well, which could be used to make yoghurt or for instant use.

The milk powder in kilos has also been sold on Hang Buom Street and Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi, and of course, without any label.

A saleswoman at a kiosk of the Dong Xuan Market introduced a lot of kinds of milk, which she said, are suitable to make cakes. “The products have high quality, and they all come from Australia and the Netherlands. Chinese products would not be as good as the products,” a saleswoman named Lien said, adding that bakery shops have been using these kinds of products.

Pham Ngoc Chau, Deputy General Director of Hancofood, said that the company’s marketing officers discovered a lot of strange brands in rural areas, such as Dinamilk, Growthmilk, Goodmilk, which are priced at 150,000-170,000 dong per 900 gram cartons only. Especially, when buying 3 cartons, buyers would get one more free carton.

Also according to Chau, the dairy products imported from China are cheaper by 30 percent than the imports from Europe.

Both Nguyen Huu Duc, Public Affair Director of Nutifood and Chau think that a lot of Vietnamese enterprises, in an effort to cut down the production costs, are importing Chinese milk powder for domestic production. However, none of them reveals the origin of the products for fear that their products would be boycotted by consumers.

According to the General Department of Customs, in November 2011, the dairy import turnover from China jumped to 120,000 dollars, up by 79 percent in comparison with October 2010. By the end of November, Vietnam had imported 513,000 dollars worth of dairy products from China, up by 30 percent over the same period of 2010.